We read:

“…giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”

Colossians 1:12 NIV

We often think:

“…giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has seen all the good things we do, understands the shortfalls we have, and recognizes that we are entitled and deserve to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”

…forgive us me, oh God.

Training Journal – 12/23/11:

• Current plan: 10K Training
  
• Today’s session: Easy 5 mile run
  
• Comments: Good run!  A brisk 34 degrees out, which gave me a chance to try my new beanie.  I was toasty: cold, shmold!
  

He put up with them through forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

- Acts 13:18 NLT

So glad He puts up with me too.  [thank You God!]

x

…Oh, and here’s a little hymn I wrote:

He putteth up with me
He putteth up with me
Just as He didst with Israel…and every other person He created
He putteth up with me

[cha, cha, cha!]

Training Journal – 12/16/11:

• Current plan: 10K Training
  
• Today’s session: Easy 4 mi run
  
• Comments: Good run on another brisk morning.  After starting out a little fast, I remembered the “easy” part of the training day plan and slowed down…
  

- Genesis 3:8 (NIV)

I’ve read that verse many times – maybe you have, as well.

Maybe its familiarity has resulted in my under appreciating the gravity of the verse* – the depth of regret that Adam and Eve must have felt when confronted about their sin and understanding the consequences.

This week, I’ve been listening to a new album called, Music Inspired By The Story [iTunes, web]. Its a collection of songs “written in the first person perspective, that depict timeless biblical stories and provide a completely new context into how God’s story of love and redemption intersects with our story of brokenness and failures resulting in a new story of hope and rescue.” [source]

While all the tracks are great, one has stuck in my mind: Good (ADAM & EVE). In light of the gravity of Genesis 3:8, to imagine Adam and Eve thinking:

If I could / I’d rewrite history / I’d choose differently
If I could, I would
I’d leave out the part / Where I broke Your heart
In the garden’s shade / Fix the mess I made
If I could, I would

If I could / Close my eyes and then / Dance around again
If I could, I would
Be who You adored / Why did I need more?
When beauty was not trained / To hide behind my shame
If I could, I would

If I could / Hold one memory / It would surely be
How You walked with us
I’d go back in time / Untell my first lie / And let Love’s injury
Heal in spite of me

wow

I sin so many times each day and sadly give the singular or collective gravity little thought.

Many of us even categorize and rank sin and then relate “appropriate” regret.

We forget that ALL sin disappoints God just as much as the Adam and Eve’s did and that it should result in a regret and brokenness just as profound as theirs…and too often doesn’t.

Forgive me, God.

I’m so grateful that God so Loved…

…for Greater Love…

…for No Condemnation…

…for Forgiveness…

…and for a promised return to how He intended things to be.

x

*I could probably say that about many passages…

[YouTube link]

my wife gets credit for finding this one.

Whenever I prune our roses, lessons abound. It’s a given.

Yesterday, I was working in the backyard on a gangly bush and saw the limb shown above. I thought, “If I grab it just right, I won’t get stuck.”

Guess what – I wasn’t ninja enough…

It hit me: temptation, or the attraction of sin can be exactly the same. We see/think/do something obviously wrong, and think, “It’s OK, I’m a ‘ninja’ – I won’t get stuck/caught/discovered/etc. No one will ever see/hear/spot me.”

The truth is, we’re wrong. We all get stuck, caught, discovered, seen, heard, spotted, etc.

We may be able to fool some in our sinful, game of thorns (like my creative reference to the book & HBO series); but rest assured, God knows – which is key since He’s the One we most offend by our blatant, would-be ninja sins.

Thank God for His amazing and wonderful forgiveness and grace!

For there is no distinction: all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.

Romans 3:22-25 (ESV)